The present invention relates to retaining walls. More particularly, the present invention relates to internally filled retaining walls prepared from a plurality of open core, man-made block elements having a trapezoidal structure, wherein the major face of the block elements form the outer surface of the retaining wall. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to a retaining wall comprised of a series of open core retaining wall block elements that are securely arranged using an anchoring composition including a plurality of anchoring stones and a synthetic resin.
Soil retention, protection of natural and artificial structures, and increased land use are only a few reasons which motivate the use of landscape structures. For example, soil is often preserved on a hillside by maintaining the foliage across that plane. Root systems from trees, shrubs, grass, and other naturally occurring plant life work to hold the soil in place against the forces of wind and water. However, when reliance on natural mechanisms is not possible or practical man often resorts to the use of artificial mechanisms such as retaining walls.
In constructing retaining walls many different materials may be used depending upon the given application. If a retaining wall is intended to be used to support the construction of an interstate roadway, a steel retaining wall, perhaps combined with concrete, may be appropriate. However, if the retaining wall is intended to landscape and conserve soil around a residential or commercial structure, a material may be used which compliments the architectural style of the structure such as wood timbers or concrete block.
Of all these materials, concrete block has received wide and popular acceptance for use in the construction of retaining walls and the like. Blocks used for these purposes include those disclosed by Risi et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,490,075 and Des. 280,024 and Forsberg, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,802,320 and Des. 296,007 among others. Blocks have also been patterned and weighted so that they may be used to construct a wall which will stabilize the landscape by the shear weight of the blocks. These systems are often designed to xe2x80x9csetbackxe2x80x9d at an angle to counter the pressure of the soil behind the wall. Setback is generally considered the distance which one course of a wall extends beyond the front of the next highest course of the same wall. Given blocks of the same proportion, setback may also be regarded as the distance which the back surface of a higher course of blocks extends backwards in relation to the back surface of the lower wall courses. In vertical structures such as retaining walls, stability is dependent upon the setback between courses and the weight of the blocks.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,313,363 to Schmitt discloses a retaining wall block having a tongue or lip which secures the block in place and provides a certain amount of setback from one course to the next. The thickness of the Schmitt tongue or lip at the plane of the lower surface of the block determines the setback of the blocks. However, smaller blocks have to be made with smaller tongues or flanges in order to avoid compromising the structural integrity of the wall with excessive setback. Manufacturing smaller blocks having smaller tongues using conventional techniques results in a block tongue or lip having inadequate structural integrity. Concurrently, reducing the size of the tongue or flange with prior processes may weaken and compromise this element of the block, the course, or even the entire wall.
The current design of pinless, mortarless masonry blocks generally also fails to resolve other problems such as the ability to construct walls which follow the natural contour of the landscape in a radial or serpentine pattern. Previous blocks also have failed to provide a system allowing the use of anchoring mechanisms which may be affixed to the blocks without complex pinning or strapping fixtures. Besides being complex, these pin systems often rely on only one strand or section of a support tether which, if broken, may completely compromise the structural integrity of the wall. Reliance on such complex fixtures often discourages the use of retaining wall systems by the every day homeowner. Commercial landscapers generally avoid complex retaining wall systems as the time and expense involved in constructing these systems is not supportable given the price at which landscaping services are sold. As can be seen the present state of the art of forming masonry blocks as well as the design and use of these blocks to build structure has definite shortcomings.
The applicant herein has solved some of the problems with a concrete block approach wherein the block was constructed in a trapezoidal form with parallel front and rear walls and a pair of sidewalls converging from front to rear. Unfortunately, while the blocks were quite useful in allowing a wall made therefrom to follow a serpentine pattern, the strength of the blocks was insufficient to avoid breakage during installation of numerous blocks, thus making the use of the blocks uneconomical.
The present invention is intended for use in decorative and functional walls which can be constructed as a gravity wall system, geogrid system, pyramid system, or as a combination of all of the these. In general, the retaining element disclosed in the assembly discussed herein is an improvement over the shaped block previously used by the applicant and provides greater strength per unit for the fabrication of the wall. As with the prior art system used by the Applicant, each element has a large core. In the present invention, the block elements provide maximum stability through the inclusion anchoring stone and a synthetic resin that surround a mesh grid or mat that is placed between the block elements. More specifically, two rows of block elements are separated by the mesh grid, with anchoring stones traversing the cores of the block elements. The liquid resin is thereby used to connect the mesh grid and the anchoring
stones to provide a positive connection and strength not found in competitive products without more complicated designs. The construction of the block elements increases the wall strength of the converging walls such that they are less susceptible to fracture during construction of the wall, by adding mass to the walls without significantly diminishing the core area, and the anchoring stones and resin further strengthen the completed retaining wall.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention.